Although the surname Sherret is found in Scotland and it is
ultimately of English origin, having been introduced into Scotland
by English Settlers. The exact origin of this surname is uncertain,
but it is believed by the scholar Charles Wareign Bardsley to
be a corruption of Sherwood. At first this was corrupted to Sherood,
then Sherad and from this we get Sherrett. This conclusion is
supported by the fact that in the index to the Register of the
University of Oxford we find the following entry: Sherwood or
Sherewood or Sherrat. Thus the name is of toponymic origin, that
is, derived from the place where the initial bearer once lived
or held land.

In this instance, the name indicates "one who came from Sherwood"
, the name of a place in Co. Nottingham, around which once stood
the famous Sherwood forest. The toponym Sherwood is derived from
the Old English words, "scire" meaning "shire,
administrative district" and "wudu" meaning wood.
Thus the name can literally be translated as "wood belonging
to the shire". Variants of this surname include Sherrett,
Sheritt, Sheret and Sherrad. The earliest Scottish record of
this surname is from 1511 when one Thomas Schervuid is listed
as a tenant in Auchlyne and a criminal charge was brought against
James Sherrat in Candross, Dumbartonshire in 1671. In England
the name appears in 1298 when one William Sherad is recorded in
the Assize Rolls of Staffordshire. Richard Schirad was residing
in the same county in 1323 and William Sherad is mentioned in
the Assize Rolls of Staffordshire in 1337. In 1578 one William
Sheratt is listed as living in Cheshire and William Sherratt of
Moss Side, Manchester, is mentioned in the Wills at Chester in
1588. John Sherratt, of Church Lawton, appears in the same records
in 1604.